


no thanks to you

by kennysspace



Series: almost paradise - part two [6]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:34:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21809608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kennysspace/pseuds/kennysspace
Summary: almost paradise: part two - chapter six of fifteenyou're not sure if you and steve will be able to rekindle your friendship.
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Henderson Reader, Steve Harrington/Reader, Steve Harrington/You
Series: almost paradise - part two [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571503
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	no thanks to you

this is also being updated to my tumblr. you can find it [here](https://yelennabelova.tumblr.com)

* * *

“We look absolutely insane,” You mutter, cutting open one of the packages of meat and unloading it into a bucket. At that moment, the middle-aged couple that lives across the street exit their home; you send them an innocent grin and a small wave, “How’s it goin’?”

The wife chuckles before gesturing to Steve, “Those Henderson kids didn’t get you wrapped up in one of their little experiments, did they?”

You and Dustin have become infamous around the neighborhood for the amount of science projects you do in your free time. There was an incident with a toaster that caused a short circuit - even the Sinclair’s were without power. You’re not allowed to investigate the conductors of electricity anymore.

“You could say that,” Steve responds, brushing off his forehead with the inside of his arm, careful to not get any raw meat into his hair.

“As long as her hair dryer works in the morning, you kids can get up to whatever fun you please,” Her husband adds and the couple laughs, prompting you and Steve to join them - no matter how fake the reactions might be.

The two of them get in the car and once the doors have shut, Steve turns back to his work before lowering his voice, “Like anything about this is going to be fun.”

You can’t help the twist in your gut at his words, and you fight the urge to look up at him. You hate that it’s gotten to this point - that being around you is more of a chore for him than anything else. The apology that’s been dancing at the forefront of your mind almost gets spit out, but before you can even move a muscle, Dustin comes bounding out of the house.

“Alright, I’m almost ready,” Dustin says as he pulls the zipper to his backpack closed, and you turn to him, “What do you need to bring? I mean, it makes sense for Steve and I…”

Your thought trails off at the nervous expression on your brother’s face and you sigh, “Is that thing just full of snacks?”

Dustin freezes under your scrutiny, his eyes quickly darting between your face and Steve’s before he shifts to sling it around his shoulder. The crinkling of the wrappers inside gives it away, “No.”

You scoff at him, a smile growing over your lips again, “Just get it in the car and come help us.”

He grabs the third set of the yellow rubber gloves and he motions to the house across the street as he puts them on, “The Nelson’s heading off to church?”

“What, you keep tabs on your neighbors or something?” Steve asks, brow raised at the strange detail.

Your jaw slacks at the mention of the earlier discussion; how could it have slipped your mind?

Dustin goes ahead and answers Steve’s question, but it barely registers in your brain.

Of course. It  _ had  _ to be Sunday.

“I, um, I’ve gotta take care of something real quick,” You say, interrupting Dustin and Steve’s conversation as you begin to pull off your gloves, “I’ll be right back.”

Steve’s attention moves to you at your tone, pausing his actions, “Woah, where you going? We’ve got shit to do!”

“I’ll just be a sec,” You respond, “I’ve just gotta call somebody real quick, alright?”

This time, Dustin replies, “Who do you have to call?”

“No one, okay? That’s not important.”

“I think it kinda is,” Dustin stresses, throwing a chunk of beef into a bucket, “I mean, who the hell would be callin’ you?”

You stop in your tracks, placing both hands on your hips, “What are you talking about? I-I get calls!”

Steve and Dustin exchange a glance and they shake their heads, their responses in tandem with each other, “No, you don’t.”

You guarantee that there’s red spreading through your cheeks, and it’s not from the crisp morning air judging by the smirk that Dustin has.

“I don’t like this,” You go to trudge back into the house, a pointed finger moving between the two of them, “Whatever  _ this _ is.”

* * *

Your lip is caught between your teeth as you wedge the phone onto your shoulder, anxiously awaiting the other line to pick up. The corner of the notebook page is in your hand, studying the digits scrawled across it.

“Mayfield/Hargrove residence,” A young girl answers, and you realize that this must be his sister - the new kid who hangs around with her skateboard. You clear your throat before responding, “Yeah hi, I’m calling for-”

“BILLY!” She interrupts you, her volume makes you pull the speaker away from your ear, “It’s for you!”

You hear some fumbling on the other end, and her muffled voice laced with anger, “Stop giving your hookups our phone number! It’s my house too!”

The sound of Billy taking a drag on a cigarette floats to your ears before he speaks, “Well, Ms. Y/N, you’re using the number earlier than I expected.”

You laugh slightly, twisting the cord in your fingers, “How’d you know it was me?”

“There’s only one person I’d want to call me,” He answers; you can practically hear the crooked smile curling over his lips. You close your eyes in frustration - damn, he certainly knows how to play you.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing you later tonight,” Billy continues before you take a deep breath, mentally kicking yourself for what you’re about to do, “About that. Something’s come up with my uh... my grandparents.”

_ That’s all you could come up with? _

“They’re having this super last minute family dinner tonight and my mom says that I can’t get out of it,” You press your forehead against the wall as you pull this excuse out of thin air. You’re surprised that you haven’t messed it up yet.

“So… we could reschedule? Maybe sometime next week, ya know, once exams are over?”

Billy can tell you’re full of bullshit - he’s  _ not _ happy. As to  _ why  _ you’re cancelling on him, he doesn’t plan on letting that go. No girl has ever ditched him before, let alone put school work as the main priority over him. But that’s not what he can let you think, especially when he’s already so close to pulling you further away from Steve.

“Of course,” Billy drawls, bringing the cigarette to his lips again, “Just give me a ring when you’re free. We’ll figure something out.” 

You feel thankful that  _ finally _ something this week has worked in your favor. A bit of the weight on your shoulders gets released at his reply, “Okay, I’ll do that, sure. See you later.”

“See you, sweetheart.” And with a final sigh, he hangs up. 

You don’t like how it feels inside your chest.

The confusing butterflies that were present when Billy arrived at your locker on Friday aren’t there anymore, and all that’s left is an emptiness instead.

You place the phone back in the base, your fingers still clenched around it as your head tries to process your emotions. 

His fast ride, spiced cologne, and packs of cigarettes don’t pull you in as much as you thought they might have.

You know Billy’s not the one for you.

And even though Steve has already rejected you once, you don’t particularly care. That boy’s had a vice grip on your heart for far too long, and it doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to go away - regardless of who you try and replace him with.

You throw out the slip with Billy’s number on it before you exit to go outside.

This might be the worst idea you’ve had in a while. But then again, you’ve had a lot of bad ideas this week; you have got to get this off your chest.

“Finally!” Dustin exclaims as you close the door to the house behind you, throwing his gloves into the trunk, “Of course we  _ just  _ finished, no thanks to you.”

You send him a glare as you approach the rear of the car, waiting for him to pop the front passenger side door open before speaking up, “Hey, Steve? I just wanna say-”

He’s sick of this already, and you’ve barely begun. As much as he would love to have your friendship back in his life, it just doesn’t seem doable anymore.  _ You’re _ the reason that the only girl he’s ever loved left him heartbroken and alone - tipsy and miserable at a stupid costume party. 

Steve doesn’t look up at you as he grabs his pack from the dirt; he shoves it into the trunk, “Just save it, Henderson.”

His fingers grip the door before shoving it downwards, pushing all of his anger into the motion, “I’m here to get rid of that thing, not to hear you give some shitty apology.”

And unlike you, Steve can’t fight the urge to look up, and he wishes that he did. The look of absolute defeat inside your eyes makes him want to take it all back. He hates that he’s the one who’s making you feel this way; but inside of his head, he’s decided that you deserve it.

You think that you probably shouldn’t have gotten rid of Billy’s number.

* * *

You haven’t spoken a single word since the three of you began your trek down the railroad tracks; you don’t even know what you would say. Instead, you’ve been aiming each throw of raw beef to land in between the wooden planks; so far you’ve counted ninety-eight successful tries.

Steve’s mind hasn’t been able to drift away from the look you had on your face. He doesn’t understand why  _ exactly _ you’re reacting the way you have been. Him and Nancy split - isn’t that what you wanted?

“Fun fact,” Dustin says suddenly, trying to think of something to lighten the atmosphere. He hates the sour mood that emanates from between you and Steve.

He figured that bringing Steve back to help was the greatest possible option, considering how close the two of you have grown over the past year. Clearly he was wrong - especially after hearing Steve snap at you from his place inside the car.

“Turns out sneaking a monster into school won’t get a girl to like you. You know, in case either one of you were gonna try that,” He turns his head to look over his shoulder to catch a quick glimpse of where you walk behind Steve, your attention glued to the tracks in front of you.

But your expression finally shifts, turning into one of annoyance; you sigh at the idea of him sneaking that creature into school, “Dustin, seriously?”

“Woah, woah, woah - hold on,” Steve starts, “Let’s back up here. We’re out here doing this ‘cause you kept something that you knew was dangerous to impress a girl? And you  _ just _ met her, too?”

“Alright now that’s  _ grossly _ over simplifying the situation,” Dustin replies, adjusting his grip on the metal bucket, “It should’ve worked!”

“I mean, why would some girl like a nasty slug anyways?” Steve asks as he quickens his pace to be next to Dustin.

“Girls aren’t into shit like that,” You add before throwing a clump of meat onto the ground; Dustin stops briefly to allow you to catch up and approach his unoccupied side, “You are, Y/N!” 

You scoff at him, “That’s because I like the stuff that other girls don’t. I like watching movies like Raiders and Blade Runner-”

“Well that’s because you have a massive thing for Harrison Ford,” Dustin interrupts, earning him a hearty laugh from Steve and a beet-red glare from you.

Steve’s grin is all teeth, “Oh, so  _ that’s _ why you like Star Wars so much.”

“Steven!” You exclaim, absolutely /thrilled/ that they’re able to find humor in your misery, “That’s not the  _ only  _ reason!”

“Oh please,” Dustin continues, “As if you didn’t cry when Han gets frozen in carbonite. I heard the sniffles!”

“Alright, alright!” You shout, waving your gloved hand in the air. A small smile grows over your face before you can stop it, relishing in the normalcy of the situation - it’s as if the past few days have been wiped from existence.

Steve finally begins to calm himself, “Dustin it just seems like you’re trying way too hard, man.”

Dustin just rolls his eyes at Steve’s comment, “Not everybody gets to have your perfect hair, okay?” 

“It’s not about the hair,” Steve answers and this time, it’s your turn to snicker. You know for a fact that it’s a contributing factor, for sure.

Steve taps Dustin’s shoulder with the back of his hand, “Ignore her, okay? The key to girls is acting like you don’t care.”

“Even if you do?” Dustin asks, looking up at the boy on his left, who responds soon after, “Exactly. Drives ‘em nuts.”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Harrington,” You chime in as another cube of beef gets placed in your hand, “Don’t go putting that shit in his head, okay? That’s not how it works.”

“Oh yeah?” Steve taunts as he finally looks over to you, “You got anything better? Anything that’s actually worked?”

“Dustin, listen to me,” You nudge your brother, regaining his focus, “Coming from an  _ actual _ girl, we don’t like that. We lose interest when guys are mean. You gotta pay attention, learn the little things that she likes and remember them. It goes a long way.”

“Sure, I guess,” Steve says as he shrugs, “But what’s really important is you gotta wait ‘till you feel the electricity. If there’s no sparks, then it’s a no go.”

Dustin nods along to his words like he understands, “Like in the electromagnetic field, you know with the clouds-”

“No! No no no no,” Both you and Steve repeat, your eyes widen at your brother’s words. You quickly answer, “Science isn’t gonna help you out here, bud. Trust me on that.”

“Okay, well if it isn’t  _ scientific _ electricity, then what kind is it?” 

Steve pauses, scrunching his features as he thinks, “Uh, it’s more like a sexual electricity, you know?”

You roll your eyes, muttering your disgust under your breath, “Jesus Christ, you’ve  _ got _ to be shitting me. You can’t just go saying shit like that to a kid!”

Steve scoffs as he glances over at you, his free hand is gesturing wildly in the air, “How else am I supposed to explain it?”

“I don’t-” You huff, briefly stopping in your tracks as you ponder the question. Steve shakes his head as you take a moment before replying, “I don’t know, okay? But not like that!”

“He’s fuckin’ fourteen! He’s not an idiot!”

You groan when you aren’t able to come up with a response; if you could, you would be shoving your face into your palm. The two boys don’t wait for you to catch up, although you don’t mind it - you don’t know how much more of Steve’s terrible dating advice you’d be able to handle. 

In the silence, plenty of thoughts flood your brain. What happens if you don’t kill Dart? What if he  _ can’t _ be killed at all? You never witnessed the Demogorgon’s demise - could it be invincible?

You wonder if anyone else knows about this. God, you hope so. 

Your gaze is brought back up from the ground; Steve and Dustin ground to a halt. Their heads spin to look at you after stopping beside them, leaning your weight into one hip.

Steve sends a knowing glance back to your brother, who’s wide grin makes you laugh, “What’s happenin’ here?”

“Nothing,” Steve answers abruptly, blowing a few strands of hair away - your eyes squint slightly, taking in his nervous expression; Dustin giggles at the sight. You can’t help but worry about what could’ve been occurring just moments before. A sarcastic comment should be enough.

“... _ Right _ .” 

After continuing to push forward, you raise your voice to address them, “Alright, come on, slowpokes! We’ve got shit to do!” 

Steve grumbles something to himself, something you can’t quite make out. But from Dustin’s response and the snickers between them that follow, it warms your heart just a touch. If you and Steve aren’t able to stay friends, maybe they’ll be able to.

You decide that’s better than nothing.


End file.
